The Butterfly Effect
by windscarlet
Summary: In which Kagome tries to finish her English homework and Inuyasha decides to waltz in like a it's a free public catering service. It includes playful, sarcastic banter, questioning fate and expressions of uncertainty, hope, and humanity, but whatever; I'm just the author. Cover art by りり on Pixiv until I have time to draw my own cover. :)
1. How the Universe Sort of Works

**_A/N:_ Hi, this is my first fanfic, and yes, you may applaud. Just kidding.**  
**FYI: My writing style is rather detailed and metaphor dense, so I apologize if you like concise stories. Either way I appreciate it if you read it. **  
**I try my best to proofread, so if you catch any grammar mishaps or have any criticism to share, please do! Thanks. :)**

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_**Note #1:** Boredom is one of the few negative things with an often positive outcome for humans: creativity, philosophy, and perhaps most important of all, pointless banter._

_**(This is the more important one) Note #2:** **Flighty** is to **Reckless** as **Kagome** is to **Inuyasha**._

There_ are two scientific theories of cause and effect that are often mistaken to be the same thing, yet are in fact opposites in the nature of their concepts. The "domino effect" is the theory that one event causes another which goes on to form a strictly chronological chain of events. On a visual stance, the theory derives from a single domino that knocks over another, which knocks over the next, and the next after that one continues to cause the downfall of the next._

Kagome arched her back against her chair and stretched out her legs, sighing out what could only be the exhausted disdain of the mentally overworked. Here she was, spending over seven hours into a beautifully clear and cool early October evening attempting to catch up on all the work she had missed in school in over a week, frying her neocortex over numerous taxing assignments just so she could at least have Sunday for relaxing. Not that she trusted that part of her brain much, which just so happens to be the part of the brain responsible for emotions, perception, and working memory, the latter which she didn't seem to have. She was a terrible studier, and she would be doing so much better if she could actually learn in class instead of cramming, but of course her reward for risking her life on a regular basis is her crippled education. Oh yeah, that's right, homework! Her very last assignment for language arts was a topic she found rather interesting: writing a detailed paragraph on the difference between two theories of cause and effect. She suddenly remembered what she was doing- curse her slipshod ability to focus- and took a quick glance at the clock. 21:14...not too bad! If she could just finish this within the next five or ten minutes, maybe she could even check out that new show her friends kept pestering her to watch!

_Many people in society tend to look at events in the perspective of the domino theory. However, it is actually the "butterfly effect" that tends to be the most often realistic. Its theory is significantly more complex, but it's basically the idea that a very small detail or difference has the ability to eventually create a significant discrepancy in its initial system. The "butterfly" part comes from the notion that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings may set off currents that will grow into a large storm._

Satisfied with her writing, it was only to her disappointment that Kagome found on her homework sheet that she had missed the last part of the task.

_**c)** What other two concepts that are thought to be opposites do these two cause and effect theories most represent? **Bonus on the graded practice midterm if you get this correct!**_

What the…? What the hell sort of question is this? Kagome just stared at task c as if she'd just witnessed a majestic pony ride a banana split boat into the land of rainbow stickers and colorful candy wrappers, which, if the reader dwells on this description, sounds pretty trippy and extreme for a side affect reaction of confusion. Then she remembered that she does have midterms in two and a half weeks, and that task c contained the very bolded words **_bonus_** and **_graded practice midterm_**. She was going to figure this out now if her freaking brain imploded, forget about her neocortex! And so began her brain storming as she embarked a grade-boosting journey among the clouds of distorted haze and a chimerical sky adorned with countless dull stars without constellations. Yes, it was a fantastical world inside her intelligent teenage brain that could only be reminiscent of the scientific concept of one's mind drawing a blank. Basically, Kagome had no idea what she could possibly gain from being stuck in the ideal state of "I don't know" if wracking her brains waiting for some answer to form out of nothing wasn't working, and after a good ten minutes of this she was already becoming extremely frustrated, one of the only negative emotions she is quick to resort to. This was only worsened when she was suddenly startled by the sound of her bedroom windows open abruptly, which always made a profound squeak so that it was pretty much impossible to enter her room soundlessly from the window, and there's only one person she knows who does that. Great, just what she needs right now.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost or something," Inuyasha remarked nonchalantly as he stepped through her window, referring to Kagome's rather paler-than-usual face, wide eyes, and somewhat messy hair. No one really tries to look extremely decent when they're going to do homework all day after school, not that he understood much of anything at all about school stuff, or that he even cared how she looked for that matter. He was perfectly aware that he had unintentionally startled her because of those stupid squeaky-creaky windows, and had only made such a remark just to overtly tease her for his own amusement. It's funny how worked up she can get sometimes, whether it was an eye roll or a bothered glare.

It was at this time tonight that Kagome decided to bestow him the honorable glare of immense irritation, especially because she knew he was being a semi-jerk on purpose, as Inuyasha invited himself to sit on her bed with his legs crossed. She stared at him for a few seconds while turned around in her desk chair before turning her back to him as she started cleaning up her desk, since she really didn't need any of her textbooks anymore for now, and while putting away her history textbook, she decided there would be no harm in at least some social interaction at almost ten in the evening, because why not?

"I'm sorta busy, Inuyasha. How come you're here and not assaulting high tree branches while making dandelion chains in like five hundred years ago or something?" He snorted at this, and she simultaneously could feel him rolling his eyes behind her.

"I think you and Shippou make enough of those to circle around the 1,391,000 kilometer diameter of the sun. Twice." Kagome raised her eyebrows at this and once again turned around in her chair.

"That's one heck of a hyperbole, Sir Smart Aleck. And that was ONE picnic. On that note, would you happen to know where my science textbook has been for the past two days, and why you stole it?" As if out of nowhere, he pulled out a rather thick textbook that seemed to contain the true secrets of How the Universe Sort of Works for dummies, which is what we generally recognize as an Earth Science textbook, in which some semi-important astronomy facts, like the size of the planets in our solar system and that one star they all revolve around, are printed on the inside of the back cover, much like a standard composition notebook.

"You're the one that left it in like five hundred years ago, and unlike you, at least I didn't waste my free time making silly flower chains and actually bothered to bring this to you like a good person. After reading some of the weird stuff in this thing, of course." To be honest with himself, he actually did take it on purpose just before she left just so he could have an excuse to barge directly into her room, but she obviously didn't need to know that. Kagome was pretty sure she saw it in her backpack just before she had taken her leave, but on the other hand, she wasn't about to prod him for any more information than the answer he gave her, since she knew very well he's just as stubborn as she is. She gave him a questionable glance as she took the textbook from him, to which he just looked the other way, pretending to be focusing on the still open bedroom windows. The brilliant reds and sour oranges were muted to grey below the clear black night sky, which was freckled with stars and the soft glow of the moon. Inuyasha actually really liked the moon, it isn't all in your face like the sun is with its blinding ego and boiling heat. The moon was Just There, and it didn't mind being that one large rock that did nothing but tell the water what to do. He just really hated it when it wasn't there, and thought it was stupid that the moon just couldn't always be there. Back to focusing on the trees, he noticed that with some squinting, he could actually discern the lemony yellow leaves despite the lack of light, and subconsciously wondered that if he looked hard enough, he could eventually pick out the brown or purple leaves.

"...came here for?"

"Huh. What?" Realizing that he had accidentally spaced out and caught off gaurd, his head snapped up and looked her directly in the eyes with an unreasonably intense gaze. Kagome blinked, and realized she had just forgotten her question within a matter of seconds. In the midst of recollecting her thoughts, she noticed Inuyasha raise an eyebrow, and realized that she had been staring straight at him the whole time, and her face flushed a light rosy color in mild embarrassment. That damn neocortex.

"Sorry, um… what are you doing here at this time?"

"Being here. Breathing. Twiddling my fingers or something." She narrowed her eyes at this. He was being especially sassy tonight, not that she had a right to complain, since he was probably picking it up from her anyway. Along with "Twiddling Your Fingers or Something," mimicking his tone of voice inside her mind.

"You know that's not what I meant. Giving me back my textbook most likely isn't all you came here for."

"I told you- you forgot about it."

"Uh huh, sure. That's besides the point. Am I not correct in this assumption?"

"What do you care? It's not like you're busy or anything." He began to develop a sour look on his face, obviously not appreciating her persistence.

"I actually am, sort of. But you're dodging my question yet again. What do you want?" He's always one tough nut to crack, and perplexingly, this time she cracked it rather quickly.

"So what if it is the only thing I came for? Is there a written law that I can't walk in and return your god damned book full of lethargy-inducing wordy information because, god forbid I even come in for no reason at all! Do you need answers for everything?" His words were thick with sarcasm and held a bitter flavor. Having a reserved, introverted personality seemed to be equivalent of a cataclysm to all of his friends, since one of them ever allowed him to value his own personal privacy. Yet, for some strange reason, he felt that he would prefer their nettling, nosy attention rather than if they never bothered with him at all.

So that was it. Just a visit? Oh. Okay.

Come to think of it, she ended up prodding him anyway after telling herself she wouldn't, how nosy of herself. And he did have a point- she always seemed to need answers from him especially; though Inuyasha is sort of an enigma in his own way, so he attracted questions to himself. However, that still didn't justify her prying. And he definitely no longer needed a reason for visiting, they knew each other more than well enough for that. Look at yourself, Kagome, and your occasional ability to empathize with others, why don't you ever do it before accosting people with your nosy antics? She inwardly sighed and mustered an apology.

"You're right. I apologize, Inuyasha, I get sort of nosy sometimes. You're always welcome here."

His expression only grew more sour as he muttered a "keh" and turned towards the window to his left and rested his head on his right hand so he could yet again focus on the evening landscape to distract himself. He found the orange leaves quicker than he expected, or maybe it was just because he felt his face tinting a warm color.

Kagome felt somewhat guilty for putting him in a bad mood, _somewhat_ because he was always in a bad mood, and decided continue talking to him just because it was the only thing she could think of that might actually make him feel less irritated. Maybe.

"Aren't I sort of boring, though?"

Inuyasha didn't shift his position, staying focused on the opened windows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't Miroku and Sango keep you company? They're as busy as you are when I'm not there to travel with you, which isn't very busy at all, and even Shippou just colors and eats snacks, annoying as you may find him. I'm always preoccupied when I'm here, and I can't talk to you much."

He paused for a moment before replying. "Well, I see them about as much as you do, and while I continue to talk to them sometimes while you're at home, they, uh… have their own issues to address."

Although her face took on an already-knowing, suspicious expression, she dared to ask anyway. "Pardon?"

"Sango is still having trouble keeping Miroku from his usual dirty hobbies. I have no idea how it's still working after a month, but they actually still spend a lot of time with each other. And I always happen to run into them half of the time when they'd rather not be bothered, so I tend to avoid them unless they approach me. And Shippou is himself, 90 percent extremely annoying little kid, 10 percent occasionally tolerable." Kagome giggled at this and how extremely predictable her friends are, and the fact that it was adorable how Sango and Miroku's "new couple" antics were still going on.

"So I'm not boring?"

He shrugged. "I would say you're better than nothing. Weren't you 'sorta busy'?"

"Oh, you're right." Kagome turned back around in her chair and looked back at her assignment sheet again, and in less than five minutes she yet again found herself in the ideal state of "I don't know." Maybe she was thinking about it too much. Yes, that must be it. After working for so long it was no wonder she could barely think anymore, she probably just needs a break and then maybe it'll come to her later. It's not like she had any other homework left to do, she thought as she leaned back in her chair, pushing against the wall with her feet so that the front legs would raise about an inch and hit the floor again when she relaxed.

"Actually, I'm really not busy at all. All my work is pretty much done for once, since I've been working for nearly eight hours today."

Inuyasha turned around at this, albeit he was staring at the back of her head, watching her fiddle around with her desk chair. Eight hours of extra work after school following fighting smelly demons and fending off a pompous magic jewel shard whore with greasy tentacles for a week or more? This girl is freaking ridiculous.

"Are you stupid? Do you ever do anything here that's not school or baths?"

"I do, but you usually don't see it when you're here because you're extremely distracting and a total nuisance about 90 percent of the time, and the other 10 percent you don't act like an insomniac and actually take a nap or something." Kagome tilted her chair back a little bit farther before letting the it fall back into its original position again.

While he knew there was a substantial amount of truth in at least the latter part of her statement, Inuyasha didn't let that keep him from countering this, and started off his next remark with a snort. "And you're 90 percent flighty recklessness, if I didn't sit with my eyes half open on a nightly basis who knows what you'd get yourself into, let alone the oth-"

"Hey, I don't get myself in trouble that mu-ah!" This time she had pushed back too far, and found herself falling backwards in her chair because gravity granted mercy to no one unless they had parachutes. For a split second she realized she would hit the back of her head and braced herself for the impending painful impact and feelings of stupidity, which was interrupted by a sudden cease in motion. Eyes squeezed shut, Kagome had somehow maintained normal breathing and a somehow mostly unaffected heartbeat until she opened her eyes and realized what had happened and where she was: she was still sitting in her chair, which was tilted at an approximate 150 degree angle, which was possible only because there were hands grasped on both sides of the back of the chair that supported it at the said angle and the same person holding her at this position was directly over her, with the same stark amber eyes looking directly into hers, as if they were about to say something. This instead is what caused the rate of her heartbeat to fluctuate so rapidly when she realized it was Inuyasha staring at her so intently yet again. Staring at her. Directly over her. With his eyes.

Oh my god.

Only fifteen or twenty seconds had transpired, which had felt more like an eternity all on its own, if you would allow Kagome to have her own fair share of hyperboles, before he actually did say something out of general concern in the only way he can.

"You need to be more careful, flighty reckless. And stupid." With a look of great displeasure as always, he gently set the chair back its normal position on the floor, and sat back down on her bed, leaving Kagome in a state of of mental paralysis for a minute or so. She then stretched out her legs, stood up, and paused for a moment while looking down at her cleared desk since for whatever reason she couldn't bring herself to focus her vision on anything else, especially him, before saying anything.

"Um, I'm going to go and brush my teeth or something."

Inuyasha, who was again sitting with his legs crossed and happened to be Twiddling his Fingers as a distraction for whatever reason because he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything else, barely heard this as she began to walk out of her room, but nevertheless acknowledged it.

"Thanks for the warning. You might want to brush your hair, too." Tugging her pajama shirt down, which had had been riding up her back from her prolonged sitting position, she was obviously bothered by his blunt comment, muttering under her breath audibly, "Since when did such an arrogant _jerkface_ arrogate that it was _his_ job to be a nagging mother…!" This only managed to make him smirk, she was so easily flustered. Not that he wasn't one to mention- he could barely keep his mind straight himself, and it hadn't even been five minutes yet.


	2. If You Add a Cerebral Cortex and Seafoam

_**Note:** Light only illuminates what's really there, but it never actually gives you the answers you need._

It wasn't so much as what had actually happened, but the way she reacted to it. He had only prevented her from stupidly falling backwards and hitting the back of her head. It was a perfectly "okay" thing for a friend to do, and she had acted like she just witnessed genetically mutated fourth dimension cows implode into an atomic phenomenon that created the milky way, which if the reader dwells on it, sounds extremely ridiculous and makes them wonder what silly teenage girl writes these preposterous exaggerations, but of course answering that would break the fourth wall. Inuyasha shook his head, he had to stop reading Kagome's weird textbooks, they were making him think weird things. Not only that, but was he actually still considered just a friend? Even he couldn't doubt that they had been in a relationship for actually a few months by now, which wasn't even the point. How does one even make something "official" or whatever? Do you paint the words "WE'RE IN A RELATIONSHIP" in all capitals with glaring red paint on some fancy fucking legal paper and and glue it on ten foot sticks, waving it around like fools while simultaneously making overt physical gestures at each other? They seemed to have gotten along just fine without that crap, but the both of them still couldn't stop getting all stiff and embarrassed when even just looking at each other in general. But focusing on just this particular instance, maybe she was just embarrassed of her own carelessness combined with being tired from working all day and was just perhaps a little stunned? Ugh, or maybe he's just overthinking this as always. He could bring up the issue to her, but he'd probably just make himself look stupid by asking about something she would probably deem entirely insignificant and pathetic to fret over. See, this was the problem. The fact that half the time he has trouble bringing up this kind of stuff to her is absolutely stupid. This is stupid and you're stupid. In fact, you're even worrying about something that's stupid to be worried about! Inuyasha sighed rather heavily and got up from the bed, knowing that she would probably sit there when she came back, pulling the previously sat on chair up next to the still-open squeaky window, which was next to the nightstand. Of course, instead of sitting on the chair he crouched on the seat and stared out the window, but this time his mind was too preoccupied with hypothetical relationship issues to be trying to pick out the colors in a grayscale window view so late in the evening. And as much as he tried not to, he found himself full out sulking, and it hadn't even been five minutes yet.

The lights flickered briefly as a switch was pushed upwards, as if the light was reluctant to elicit its energy from its circuits and manifest in florescent light bulbs. But they always do that, Kagome thought as she looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was a tired pale color, her hair was plagued by too many fugitive strands that dared to stray from her loose wavy locks, her lips were a duller pink than usual and her eyes, although still a saturated sky blue, seemed almost jaded. But jaded to what? Being tired? Almost dying at least twice a month? Either way, she needed to take better care of herself, she only got six hours of sleep on average, and usually had difficulty sleeping well in the feudal era. She wet her purple toothbrush under the faucet and squeezed a nearly finished tube of Ora 2 toothpaste and began to brush the back of her molars. How could one sleep so soundly in that time period, anyway? The chance of getting attacked by ugly supernatural creatures or smelly bandits there is much higher than in the cozy safety of a warm, securely locked home under a modern constitutional monarchy. She had Sunday all to herself tomorrow, at least- no school, no traveling, electricity, the internet, she was even practically done with her homework! Just the concept of such a day nearly brought tears pooling at the brims of her bottom eyelids… unless, of course, Inuyasha decided to stay and do what he usually does when he stays in her home, which is being a gigantic pain in the neck. She grimaced at this thought and the taste of toothpaste, which was a sign that she had been brushing for too long. After rinsing out her toothbrush and her mouth, she grabbed a hair brush and began to pull the divergent strands back into place. He isn't so bad when he's home, or at least he doesn't mean to be, and from the looks of it, he doesn't really talk to anyone else much while he's there. It's funny, one would think he'd be the type of person to value not being around everyone with his anti-social antics, giving just about everyone the cold shoulder most of the time, and not to mention his inability to trust others. Yet, even among his few close friends besides her that he's come to trust well, even open up to, it didn't stop him from waltzing into her house whenever he liked. But why? Why her? There's nothing special about her, aside from her purifying abilities, but that's nothing new. She shook her head at her reflection. You can't tell yourself that, you are Kagome, no one else. The only Kagome here is you...

Kagome realized just how long she'd been standing in the bathroom, spacing out while staring at the reflection in her mirror that resembled her. She usually doesn't do this, it must be the mental fatigue getting to her… right? She gently shook her head again in dismay at her momentary ditziness. What was she trying to do, figure out the psychology behind the behavior of another individual, fifty percent not-even-her-species or even within her time frame, with her somewhat adequate ability to empathize? Why does she even care? Ugh, you need sleep, she thought as flicked the switch down, and the lights hesitated, but only for a brief moment, as if it was wondering if the lack of light would further shroud her uncertainty, with a blinding darkness. But that's a rather silly thought, since light never really gives you any answers.

Finally having some free time to herself, Kagome could finally start watching that show her friends wanted her to see that was apparently so great or as they had said, "_enchanting_". She grabbed her laptop from the desk and turned the switch on her lamp, which clicked twice before allowing the room to be illuminated in a quiet darkness. One of Inuyasha's ears twitched at this sound, interrupting his daydreaming. Kagome sat down on her bed, leaning against the headboard and bringing the blanket cover up to her waist, and suddenly realized that Inuyasha must have moved from her bed while she was gone. Before she could take a glance around her room she heard someone say her name, and bent over beside her bed to turn on her "book lamp," which was really a dim night light plugged into her wall that she used when reading, met his eyes, and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I nearly forgot you were even here, I'm just going to watch something…" Kagome trailed off as she realized he never had television explained to him, much less the internet, and wasn't surprised when his eyebrows furrowed and a twinge of curiosity appeared in his eyes, although his reply didn't reflect this.

"Whatever, flighty." She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't last long.

She visibly rolled her eyes at the teasing nickname and opened up her laptop, and started the first episode, and by the time she was eight minutes in, he had already glanced over several times. She paused the video and smirked at him, making a beckoning motion with her hand.

"Why don't you pull that chair up next to me and watch the show with me? I promise you, it's interesting. And for god's sake, use your butt and actually use the chair by si-um, seating yourself on it!" After sighing in relief, he did so, as the seat of the chair happened to reach the same height of her bed, and sat down with his legs crossed as always. Kagome proceeded to tell him that modern society had found a way to create a system that transmits visual images and sound that can reproduce itself on practically any television set that is allowed to receive its signal, and can be used to tell stories, inform people of things like tomorrow's weather, and even teach history or whatever, and you can even use a computer to watch it, like her laptop. It was pretty simple enough explanation for him to understand, though still mind-boggling. She continued to tell him that the show her friends want her to watch is about fairytale characters being real, living in a different realm that has magic, and the're pretty okay until an evil queen casts a curse that erases their memories and fills them with false personas, ruining their "happy endings," and it's up to the main character to break it. This sounds relatively interesting to Inuyasha, and even though he was genuinely paying attention to the show, mirroring her reactions to each event, he kept getting himself distracted, watching her giggle, occasionally catching himself staring at her face in general, her eyes fixated on the screen… he was really bad at keeping his mind off things in the first place, but this is practically embarrassing, seeing as the problem in nature was silly enough to be stemming from his own insecurities! Or could it be hers, also…?

"Inuyasha?"

"Huh? What?" Kagome cocked an eyebrow at this. This was the second time she had caught him off guard, and she wasn't going to let this slip twice.

"What's on your mind? You've been very spacey today, more than I."

"So what? I have a cerebral cortex, you know. Am not allowed to think now?" Kagome's face nearly resigned to a look of indifference, shocked that he had used such a word.

"How much of my schoolwork have you been stealing?" Inuyasha said nothing and kept a straight face.

"...Never mind. Don't dodge the question, I know when you're acting funny, and I don't mean your constant deliberate attempts to bust my chops." He cleared his throat briefly, and quickly fabricated the latter part of his reply.

"The first time I was just looking out the window, that's nothing significant. Just now... I was wondering why you don't watch television in the feudal era." Her eyes ever so slightly narrowed.

"Well, that's because there's a lot of things people in the feudal era don't know how to use or create yet that is necessary to make television broadcasting possible, like electricity, television signals, cameras, animation, computer technology, not to mention no internet to use computers, and you can forget about wi-fi," she sighed and turned her gaze to the side as a faraway look seemed to glaze over her eyes, "People born during this time are so accustomed to these benefits, they become almost a vital part of our society, our lives. And then if all of the sudden you don't have it, and no matter how hard you try, you just don't know what's going on, and you can't do anything about it."

Well, he definitely wasn't expecting something like that to come out. Anyone could easily see the polar differences between his time frame and hers, but anxiety it must cause, the fact that when it comes down to it, you're probably the one that's the most blind, that you don't belong there, must be unnerving. And because he certainly knows how it feels to not belong, _it must genuinely suck_.

Kagome must have realized the empathetic look in his eyes, due to the sudden displeasure that appeared on her face. How could she just let that slip out ? _Ugh, how could she be so stupid?!_ She shook her head and looked at him with sharper, almost diamond-cut eyes.

"This isn't about me, though, You may be telling the truth about the first one, but I know when there's something on your mind, and it's not about television signals. Actually, it is about me, isn't it?"

Inuyasha was taken aback. How was she able to figure him out? She must have noticed his antics while they were watching TV._ Ugh, why is he always so obvious?_ What could he possibly say that wouldn't make him sound ridiculous like he always did in front of her? Oh yeah, there wasn't.

"Well?"

In his last attempt to avoid making a fool of himself, he tried dismissing the value of his own issues.

"It's rather insignificant. It'll just waste time." He knew she wasn't going to accept that, though. Of course she wouldn't.

Kagome's expression became soft again as she tugged one of the front locks of his hair, forcing him to face her.

"Hey, listen to me. Avoiding your problems, no matter how big or small, isn't going to make them go away- you know that already, don't you? And I won't allow them to become stagnant if it has to do with me, most especially if it's about me. Because I can at least help you with something like that." Inuyasha definitely heard her, but all he can really think about in response is the fact that Kagome is less than six inches away from his face, and her bright blue eyes almost glowing with sincerity staring straight into his gave him a strange fluttering feeling really wasn't helping.

Yet, as much as he wanted to say something, he could not manage to elicit any words. The closeness of her face, her eyes which were locked onto his practically piercing a hole in the back of his retina, it made something inside him churn. Maybe it was just his stomach, or his mind that was overwhelmed with a paralyzing mental nausea, a wave of numbness flooding his lungs denying him the air to speak. If it definitely wasn't the same numbness he felt during a fight, mild pain from writhing injuries stifled with adrenaline, then he was at a loss of what he was even feeling for such a sensation to exist. In fact, he shouldn't even be feeling like this; he's seen her face so many times before whilst consumed by every single emotion possible, including the occasional close-up. Yet this very instant, he had nothing to say, no biting sarcasm, no sharp comments, no way to avoid this at all. It could possibly be the fact that there would be absolutely no way his pride would allow him to admit he had been getting himself worked up on his own insecurities as it would contradict his normally arrogant facade, not to mention that the way he was reacting to it right now in itself is already sufficiently embarrassing, but was that really all it took to make him such a mess? There has to be more to it than that, but hell, even he couldn't figure himself out, he was so confused. It's just that she's staring at him so intently and her eyes are so blue and he can't look away and it's so quiet and why can't he say anything and damn it he must look like such a fool right now.

And he sort of did, as his face was stuck in an unreadable expression Kagome couldn't recall having seen before. It almost seemed like he was very confused, his face uncovered by his usual facade, and she thought that maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all, put him on the spot like this. Here comes the passive guilt again.

Trying to once again catch his attention so that she may waive her pseudo-interrogation that he still had yet to even mumble a response, she lightly tugged on the lock of hair she still had in her grasp.

"Inuyasha?"

It almost looked like he hadn't been fazed, but he did hear her. For a moment, he kept his eyes fixated on hers with the same expression, this time almost looking as if he was about to say something. Then all of a sudden, something bubbled over like fizzling, lingering seafoam, something that he couldn't quite explain, but it settled like a rock at the bottom of his gut, and it consumed whatever hesitation that had previously chained him to numbness.

Strangely, Kagome's face remained unchanged as a moderately decreasing three inches were left between them, as if she didn't realize what was happening. She only partially did.

Then two, then one.  
A mid October breeze casually rustled the bruised and dying leaves still clinging to the bark, that one tiny twiggy branch, as if holding on for dear life. None of them seem to want to join the others on the ground, although it is a most beautiful fate to be bound to.

Then nearly zero.  
The tree is all the leaves have ever known as home, after all.  
But the tree changes, too.

Then absolute zero occurred.  
Coincidentally, the cold air from the Autumn breeze whispered past the open window, and so did a single red leaf.  
.


	3. Fate is Like Spilled Milk and Cop-Outs

**I am apologizing three times in this author's note.**

**I apologize for the one-month gap on a sort-of-subtle cliffhanger; I've had 75% of this chapter written for three weeks but I have art homework I've been procrastinating on so... :'D**

**I am sorry/not sorry for any astronomy references; I...am all kinds of geek, and vast space is included. Bye.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading as always, and I apologize for any weird-sounding metaphors. Since this is my first fanfic, this is sort of a dialogue-heavy warm up and I'm just trying out different descriptions and such. Again, critiques/reviews are always welcome.**

**Spring break starts on 4/11 for me so hopefully I can end this story sometime soon, as it only has a chapter or two left.**

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_**Note:** The Universe was, is, and always will be full of cop-outs. Too many things go both ways and everyone who knows this thinks it's weird._

Kagome, to say in the least, was shocked, caught off guard. As her heart began to flutter rapidly, her hand let go of his hair, and curling loosely into a fist and hovering just below her collarbone, over her chest, she realized she was faintly trembling. Whether it was from cold or something else entirely, perhaps even both, she could not discern. The brittle, cold sensation known as nervousness was only augmented by the chilly air settling into the room, with traces of warm frustration creeping up her neck. She still had no idea what was bothering him so persistently, and this was an answer? Yet another thing she didn't understand was why she was so nervous, why her fingers and cheeks were tingling and how she could feel so warm and cold at the same time. So she sat there, perplexed and frozen, unable to gather the cognition to react, even though she wanted to.

When Inuyasha pulled away from her, a short kiss that had only lasted a less than a fifth of a minute yet seemed to have lasted a small eternity on its own, he promptly turned away from her in his chair to avoid eye contact. His cheeks and ears, which were flat against his head, were nearly vermillion as he began to reconsider what he'd just done, immediately regretting the result of his impulsivity, which often worked well as one of the notable characteristics of his personality, such as during a battle. But this wasn't about bloodshed or not dying, it was mostly about himself and the girl he just_ liplocked_, with extraneous emphasis on that last word. You can't just do that without warning- can you? He had no idea of knowing, he'd never actually initiated one! The verdict was clear, _she doesn't like you now/anymore_ or perhaps more likely the _get out of here what's wrong with you._ In fact, before she could say anything like that which would emotionally dig his grave and burn any pride he had left in the closest metaphorical fire, he should probably leave as soon as possible.

Kagome was halfway detached from the reality of what had just happened, focused on the small vermillion leaf, illuminated by the moonlight cascading from the window. Only her hands still tingling, yet her face still flushed, she realized something. Maybe she had only been nervous because she hadn't understood at all? She already knew she loved him, and he maybeprobably did too, because they had shown it perhaps on more than a few occasions, not to mention what he did just now. And while they never needed to make it socially official, they had never actually..._admitted_ it to each other, right? Maybe they didn't need to, yet there was still this unexplained hesitance between them when they became close, even with no one else around. He could have just said that instead of leaving her stunned like that.

Or perhaps he just did, in his own way.

After all, Inuyasha was never one for words. And she was better at using words. Oh.

Her thoughts were then interrupted by a rustling of movement. Inuyasha then barely muttered a single word, so nearly inaudible that Kagome would have missed it had he said it a moment earlier in the midst of her thoughts.

"Sorry." He began to move to get up from the chair he had been seating himself on, to be anywhere but here right now. Hells, he's such an idiot, making a fool of himself like th-

A hand grasped his, and unconsciously his arm stiffened and his fingers tingled. _Oh, great._ If it hadn't been for the lack of sufficient light in the room, Inuyasha may not have even dared to turn his head even slightly towards the opposing force.

In the corner of his eye- a placid, kind face. She could see the lingering apprehension in his.

"I'm not angry at you, Inuyasha. Come, have a seat." And he did, though the color of his cheeks and ears didn't change, and though his body was turned towards her, he didn't dare do the same with his face, looking down at the hands resting on his lap, which helped no better. She still hadn't let his hand out of her grasp.

She giggled, and Inuyasha's ears flicked in response at the sudden sound stimulant, clearly irritated. "What do you find so funny?" He didn't sound angry, but the words nearly came out like a low growl.

"It's just," Kagome smiled at him, slightly lowering her face accordingly so he could see it at the edge of his vision, "You look just like that little red leaf over there."

Inuyasha turned around briefly, catching a glimpse of the said leaf. Freshly carried away by a spoiled breeze that never had its fill of tearing leaves by the stems, its branching veins still pulsed with life. Its unhesitatingly vibrant shade of red made up for its humble size and uneven, jagged shape, which most resembled a star.

"Do you know what the red Doppler shift is?" She very lightly squeezed his hand, as if to get his attention from behind him. He couldn't quite remember, although he knew he had read something of it before. Wavestrengths or something? Wait, no, that's definitely not it.

"I don't think so…" He said this without turning back to face her, preferring his eyes the company of a leaf.

"In space, redshift happens when light or say some other electromagnetic radiation from an object that is moving away increases its wavelength. It also supports the fact that the universe is still expanding. Do you know what I'm getting at?" He remembered what she was talking about, however, he hadn't the slightest of idea what she meant by it, so he just stayed quiet and shook his head.

"In other words, that leaf was once just like the others, stemmed to the same branch of the same tree for months. Yet, instead of following the same path as the other leaves, laid out by that one wind, by coincidence it traveled wayward into my room, all alone. Or perhaps," She chose this moment to let go of his hand, the sudden lack of heat hissing at his fingertips, "it wanted to be farther away, not left to be consumed by the other leaves." A single canine ear swiveled towards the sound of her voice at that statement. Having regressed to not having any part of him physically face her at all again, he began to understand some of what she was saying. Whether subconsciously or not, he purposely pushed away others, didn't trust them, in order to avoid any negative infliction, such as betrayal or hatred. But he must be missing something. What was the opposite of the redshift?

Of all people, he probably trusted her the most. He really wanted to turn around again, to face her. But he couldn't bring himself to meet her blue eyes. Then he realized something, though it wasn't necessarily what Kagome was trying to insinuate.

"Are you saying...you're the blueshift?"

Kagome felt her cheeks become a little warm. While it was flattering to be recognized by him as such a metaphor, since she never really realized herself how people seemed to gravitate towards her. However, that wasn't what she had been trying to get at.

"Th-that's nice of you to say, but… no, not quite," she cleared her throat to continue, seeing as he had yet to catch her gist, "The red leaf was determined to travel a different wavelength than the other leaves, to lead a different fate. In other words, correct me if I'm wrong, not many half demons survive in the Feudal Era, right?"

"No, I wouldn't think so."

"I'm pretty sure it goes without asking that you wanted to survive then," she continued after he nodded, "You were determined to not be dealt the same fate, and you certainly weren't, whether it was by sheer luck or will. Or both, most likely. Just like that leaf didn't join the decomposing, browning pile at the roots of a tree." He finally understood what she was saying, but had difficulty agreeing with her.

"I would still be sealed to that tree if you hadn't time traveled and pulled that arrow."

She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "True, but...I still wasn't not there. What matters is that I was there, inadvertently breaking the seal fate had supposedly attempted to ensnare you with, and yet you also could have given up before, a long time ago. But the reality is that you can't change the fact that I was pulled down a mildew-crusted well by an unsightly braless insect demon because I wanted to find my cat, nor the fact that there was no way I wouldn't have wanted to dislodge a projectile protruding from your chest unless I actually desired death by being crushed. Either way, your life is now dramatically different because of things that happened that couldn't not happen."

He exhaled a breath of laughter, brief and quiet. Despite her bold stubborn shouts and occasional (though he'd rather say often) irritated exclamations, her words were at least eloquent when it mattered, a wedding cake of layered, unwavering passion, unlike himself. Something was still amiss, though, and it was a question so simplistic and harmless yet it tugged at his head, stomach, and heartstrings with an unbridled rapture as he said it, and it nearly stumbled with his breath and the clunky sound of his voice, a gentle yet masculine tone almost audibly quavering with uncertainty. He finally turned to face her for just those few scattered words, pieced together awkwardly and honestly with piercing eyes that stared in only her direction. They were often an Earthy amber, she observed, but they seemed almost a glaring yellow now, a steady intensity.

"Do you think fate exists?"

Out of all the things he could of said, she least expected this one. It seemed like an almost out of place question for someone like him to ask, and it was a question that twisted at the bottom of her gut, made her heart flutter like a cloud-dipped hummingbird. However, it wasn't as much as she lacked an idea of how to answer as much as it was that _she didn't know what he meant by it_. She had in fact contemplated such a question many times to herself before after that first fall down the well, after all, they were traveling all over the Feudal Era to _change fate_. Her words collected in a flurry behind her tongue, and when she spoke there was no hiding of the obvious twinkle in her eye as she spoke.

"Well, the thing is, I'm a cop-out. I do and I don't." Inuyasha only grew more perplexed by this statement as her mouth gave a slight smile.

"Fate did stop my life from being what one would say "normal," but all the same it's malleable and the choices we make are ours. Fate is a given. We must feel pain, we must die, and we can't change what has already happened. But, we can change what's going to happen before it does. We can choose who or what will bring us happiness or sadness, and we can do a lot before we die. I don't and probably never will know whether I'm right or not, but I believe that both must exist."

Inuyasha stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds; this answer didn't exactly answer the question behind the wrapper he had so tactfully covered it in, sort of. He really wasn't that great at asking anything indirectly in the first place, but was he really going to let himself ask her if she thought they were meant to meet each other? Of course not, that would be significant of him needing someone to reassure him of security, and he had survived this long pretty alright without that. She may not be mad at him, but she hadn't actually said anything obvious; as she didn't exactly kiss him back, either. _So what was he trying to say?_ Of course, he had no idea, so before Kagome could plague him with another questioning look he decided to dismiss his silly uncertainties with a monotone mutter.

"Oh. I see." Brilliant reply, just brilliant. You've outdone yourself this time.

As she watched him turn to his side to look out the window again and think about who knows what, Kagome couldn't help but be utterly perplexed herself yet again. If the somewhat vague but straight answer didn't actually answer his question, then what did he actually want her to talk about and why was he being so damn difficult about it? Granted, she was no psychologist, but his mind was like a starry night sky cloaked by the whisp of a filmy fog that hissed contempt at revealing the faintest glints of light. That didn't deter her from trying, though.

"What about you- do you believe in fate?" This made him stir a bit, change his gaze from the still gaping mouth of the window to the nuanced crevices on the hardwood floor. He stared at the buffered imperfections as if one of them would split open and expand at any moment, exposing the unreality of a syrupy, bitter darkness that partially concealed itself in this dimly lit room, scorching with unfamiliar dots of a pasty, slight glimmer, and he would fall into it, breathless and lost like the void behind the teeth of that window, unable to see her. For some strange reason, he knew that he'd never want to reach out towards those dots if it meant accepting the familiarity of the somber, acidic truth. It was a lingering contradiction that constantly meandered in his mind, stale and painful, but not as much as it felt to have the unsevered obligation to answer her properly such a crumbling question for him.

"I… suppose I have no choice but to agree with you," a glint of vitality was briefly present in his eyes as he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "You see, I'm a cheater. For the most part, I've managed to evade it up until now besides the lucky breaks and the corners I've cut. Other than the self-accomplishment of not ending up like most of everyone else like me with scarcely any help for so long, it's also what we're fighting to do right now. So in all honesty I'd prefer not to even take fate with a grain of salt, but really, there are more than a few incidents that threaten that resolve, including myself. Um, namely you, for instance. Miroku's curse that both his father and grandfather could not escape, the tragedy of Sango's entire village and her family…" He trailed off, his eyes still boring into the musty, dull floor.

"But how does that have anything to do with you?"

"It's an extremely selfish reason. There are many things, too many I can count myself, I could have done differently if I hadn't been so oblivious, or if I had done something sooner, questions I could have asked. I never actually forget them, they just stay stagnant, and a day usually doesn't go by that I don't for at least a fraction of a moment feel a pang of pungent regret for one of them. Then sometimes I catch myself thinking that if fate exists, there's nothing I could have done about it anyway, because no matter what I could have tried, it had already happened anyway. And it somehow it's not as much of my fault anymore; I'm less guilty. It makes it easier to deal with, y'know? But then I realize what a self-centered, shallow idea that is, how utterly contradictory I'm being, and it's disgusting. But without it that means I wouldn't have met you and the others, as annoying as you all are; so I don't even know which one I want to accept either. So I believe the same thing you do, because I have to."

Because he wasn't used to saying such personal things, he felt a nervous shiver linger on the back of his neck and hands, his body stiff and barely breathing. The intoxicating silence in the room poisoned their minds with an incessant chatter laden heavy with the genuine, melancholy boundlessness of each other's words, cut into fragments that minced their sentences before they could form. This left them speechless and bewildered; and it wasn't until the warmth reached his body and the sound of her airy, potent voice wafted to the tips of his ears did Inuyasha notice that Kagome was sitting right next to him on the chair.

"That is a very normal, human thought. And before you tell me that you dislike associating yourself with human qualities, I don't think I have to tell you that there aren't many full demons that don't suck. And by suck I mean something along the lines of highfalutin sadist or apathetic murderer. And yes, you are often a full serving of impulsive jerk with an occasional side of selfi-"

"You are not helping."

"You didn't let me finish. For the most part you're pretty decisive, so I understand when you contradict yourself or can't decide on something it must bother you a lot. But the reality is, it's not an easy question, and for someone with experiences like yours it's even harder; and you're not truly any of those things you listed. If you were so shallow, you wouldn't be questioning your own resolve and would only look at things at surface value, and if you were really so self-centered you wouldn't be risking your life to save people like me or would completely disregard the feelings or value of other people if it wouldn't end in your own benefit. As far as selfishness goes, I really don't think you're much like that at all anymore."

He looked down at the palms of his hands and left his mind to ponder the blankness of them. If he thought anything else, she'd see it through the dusky blue prisms of her eyes- she would dissect his thoughts like light and he didn't want her to see any of that. Right now he just needed to see the ghostly lines that criss-crossed his palms and rough calluses on his fingertips and knuckles; he had said too much already, and maybe if he dismissed the intricacy in his hands, as if they really were blank, she wouldn't see him either.

"You can stop that, you know." Her voice was quiet and unsettling, though she wasn't looking at him despite her sitting next to him.

"What is there to stop?"

She ignored his blatant tone of irritation, and paused for a brief moment before continuing.

"That apathetic "tough guy" act. You know it never worked very well on me, anyway."

He doubted whether she ever really believed it in the first place. He didn't know what to say, if he could say anything, because she was right and he didn't want her to be, and he couldn't let himself say any more than he already has, yet here she was, cutting down his sentences to a reluctant mutter.

"I can't."

He watched Kagome from the corner of his eye and saw her shoulders heave as he heard her sigh, brushing her bangs back and following her hand through to the back of her head, disturbing the conformity of her detangled hair. Her bangs stuck up from her forehead as she seemed to be in thought, which he thought looked looked sort of cute, not that he'd ever tell her that. He looked away from her again, wondering which one he'd prefer- as much as he wanted to, and for the most part did, believe in free will- he couldn't deny that it was fate that had brought her to him, and he couldn't help but wonder if she thought that too, as corny as it sounded. _But how the hell would he ask her that? "Do you think we were meant to meet each other for a reason?" Oh god, the actual sentence in his head was worse than just the concept of asking it._

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn't realize it when her arms wrapped around his torso from behind him, hugging him from the side with her cheek pressed against his shoulder. Her sentences came out soft and thick with an undertone of soreness, but if it was from a slight heartbreak or exhaustion he wasn't sure.

"Inuyasha, you're always so hard yourself...don't let it eat at you like this, because you can't do everything. What you've been able to do far outweighs what you haven't."

And with that his stiff countenance that he constantly sheltered himself behind temporarily melted under her voice that spilled like milk over the remains of a shattered glass.


	4. A Paroxysm of Butterfly Rasphody

**Sorry for a slightly longer update gap than usual; I actually jumped ahead finished the story. **  
**As always, thanks for reading and reviews/criticism are always welcome! But favorites also mean a lot too. :)**

**Edit 5/18/14: I forgot to write the note part, whoops. XD**

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_**Note:** Breathtakingly colorful, delicately intricate, and featherlike, the wings of a butterfly are among the most fascinating yet common spectacles to the human eye- that is, until they get stuck at the bottom of your gut. Then everyone just hates them._

Inuyasha didn't think about her words as much as he did simply take them in, the waves of her words breaking against the silence, allowing them to flood him, dragging back with them some of the regret and guilt that never left him. It made him feel a little lighter, and Kagome could have sworn she felt his pulse quicken under her hand as his hand reached to grasp hers, causing her own to skip for a moment before she continued.

"There are two scientific theories of how time works."

"Yeah?" Though he was listening, he sounded distant, his subconscious buzzing lightly in his ears with a reluctant satisfaction. _She was letting him hold her hand._

"Uh-huh. They're called the Domino Effect and the Butterfly Effect, and their concepts are opposites of each other. The domino effect holds the philosophy that one event is responsible for the direct cause of another, or what happens next. It is because this theory is chronological and sounds like each moment of time is giving way to the next is what gives it its name. A lot of people tend to see life in this perspective, but...the butterfly effect is actually more correct. At least I'm pretty sure it is."

"What's it about, then?" He turned his head slightly so that he could see her from the corner of his eye to show that he was listening. Not that it mattered to him to show her that he was being attentive, but because he was only slightly interested. Only slightly.

"The butterfly effect is more complicated, but more realistic by a wide margin. It's the idea that an event, no matter how seemingly insignificant or whatever time it happened, has the ability to take part in the cause of any event. Simply put, Things That Happen are the result of many different Things, or different factors. One thing isn't necessarily directly responsible for the other, and we don't have complete control over how something will happen. We may not be in control of our so-called "fate," but we can control enough to make a difference, and I think that's what really matters, what truly makes us human. Or human-ish, in your case." Inuyasha caught a glimpse of the smirk that curled up on her mouth, an unusual sign of her teasing. His quirks are rubbing off on her too much, the smirks are supposed to be his trademark, dammit.

With her cheek still resting on his shoulder, she raised her head just enough to see part of his face. "You really shouldn't worry much about such things. You're nowhere near disgusting- I think you're fine just the way you are."

His heart began to thud against his chest at an embarrassing speed upon hearing this. An icy warmth clouded the air and stung him and the gripping silence that followed. It wasn't exactly the sensation of feeling lost, because he knew damn well where he was, but it was the best explanation he could think of, because for a moment he had almost felt that there were no walls or a floor beneath his feet. Kagome found his lack of response so queer that she almost thought she had said something wrong until she felt him grip her hand firmly and pull it up towards his face, lightly pressing his lips against her knuckles.

"Inuyasha…" The shiver that went up her spine didn't falter.

She felt the warmth of his breath against her hand as he exhaled, and she was relieved at least that his eyes were closed, because he definitely wouldn't have needed a lamp or daylight in order to see her face, which she felt was practically glowing red from all the blood that was rushing to her face. She really had to stop getting all flustered like this, though maybe it was the fact that even though he hadn't and wasn't going to say anything, this was as close to a "thank you" she was going to get from him. Just the fact that she had said something significant enough to get through to him was enough to make her grin like a fool, and she subconsciously wondered whether he could feel her smile against his shoulder, though there was something else buzzing in the front of her thoughts. For someone split between two different species, he sure did act like it; in some ways he was practically a living _math problem_. Most of the time he acts like a selfish jerk with his pride stuck up his ass, then she hears him say things like this, things that break her heart. For the days to come after this night, she'd remember it in some way as the first time she realized that Inuyasha was plagued by bouts of regret that lingered like a stretching shadow: no matter how far away he pushed it, it always clung to his feet, a heavy chain he couldn't shake. But life just doesn't fall on top of itself in a continuous line like fate claims it to do, that's just the way it is. It scatters like the forced air behind a butterfly, and….

Oh my god. _Wait a minute._

Kagome isn't very mathematical, but her brain processed the new information like this:

_a+b= bonus  
Domino/Butterfly theory+ Fate/Free will = Bonus_

Inuyasha almost caught himself in a daze from her closeness; the potency of her scent was exhilarating, and if he were to be completely honest with himself he'd admit that he could fall asleep in such a position, but only because his sleep had recently been decimated since they had been busy in the feudal era recently, and had yet to even take a light nap yet. But _only_ because of that. Still, the fact that she was letting him stay like this and had yet to show any sign of wanting to move was something he was definitely okay with. And maybe he was just caught up in the moment, or perhaps that for this small window of time his usual facade was nonexistent so it didn't matter as much anymore at this point; somehow he felt that he was garnering enough courage to try and ask her that question again, albeit a bit more directly this time. Lowering her hand just enough so that he could turn his head towards her direction, he sucked in his breath unevenly before he began to speak, a trace of hesitation still remaining.

"Kagome, do you think we were supposed to-"

"THAT'S IT!"

"Wha- AUGH! Unfortunately for him, Inuyasha didn't get to finish his sentence before Kagome suddenly shot up, pushing him face-first onto the floor in the process. Taking no heed of the young man she had just knocked over, she promptly grabbed the chair, slid it back in front of her desk, turned on her desk lamp, then grabbed her laptop and opened it up while settling down in her chair all in one swift motion, possessed by a paroxysm of intellectual rhapsody. Her fluid, fevered typing wove into the eloquence of her words, stitching the seams of a guaranteed bonu-

"What the fu-!?"

Before he could even finish his profanity-laden inquiry, Kagome only paused her writing for a moment, gracefully swinging her right arm behind her, a loose fist raising a single finger to point at him with flawless acuity.

"Sit."

Though Inuyasha had just barely recovered from the shock of being pushed onto the unforgiving hardwood floor, he received it yet again, except worse.

"I'm sorry, but I need to focus!" And she was sincere, as she had tried to hold back any emotion in her enchanted command, though she wasn't sure if that made a difference with the amount of force that pushed him forward onto the ground. It's the thought that counts, right? _As I was saying_, her fingers tapped the keyboard in a dulcet duet as she continued to form words into a coherent and sophisticated paragraph. When she finished and had it nicely printed out, she beamed in confidence that the analysis of her comparison was 100% correct and bonus-proof, because, _what else_ could possibly be the answer? She stood up, put away her laptop, pushed in her chair, and pivoted on her heels to find Inuyasha sitting with his legs crossed on the edge of bed again, resting his chin on his hand with his usual pouting face, which was turned away from her as he yet again resumed to staring out that still open window. _He must really like that window_.

Inuyasha was really only doing this because A) He was pretending to be angry at her (he was really just notably irritated, and to her it probably just looked like he was just sulking, but that wasn't going to deter him) and B) He realized that, despite his marginally heightened ability to navigate himself in the dark, he may have just been imagining those colors, or just memorized them, because he couldn't actually see any of those leaves in the visible light spectrum even though the full moon was flaunting its monthly modest, yet brilliant incandescence. But then there was also C) He was just being himself. Feeling the sensation of her eyes practically pasted on him, waiting for something, as if he knew what _that_ was, he glared at her from the corner of his eye and spoke without hesitation.

"Do you _need_ something?"

Kagome smiled sheepishly and clasped her hands behind her back, just a tinge caught off guard at the sharpness of his voice. "Um, sorry again for being for being sort of inconsiderate… it's just that I figured out the answer to a bonus question on my homework and got a little...excited."

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I wouldn't have guessed. I'd say "inconsiderate" is "sort of" an understatement."

Kagome scrunched up her face, clearly annoyed at his apathetic rejection of her apology (and if he hadn't rejected it, well, how _else_ do you interpret a sentence like that?). "Well, _I'm sorry_, I'm only apologizing for being something you are just about all the time- you know, _inconsiderate_. Not to mention _impolite, disrespectful, vulgar_, and an _absolute nuisance_ when I'm trying to _work_!" She she cleared her throat modestly and, while glancing around the room, caught sight of the red leaf still laying in the same spot, though the brilliance of its red hue was partially lost now as the moon's spotlight was very dim in the now well-lit room. Staying quiet, she began searching through her drawers for something, and Inuyasha couldn't snap anything sassy about that, so he didn't say anything either. When she found the things she was looking for, she stopped in front of the leaf and looked at the half-demon, who hadn't moved or barely even twitched an ear. It shouldn't have, because she knew he was probably just being an ass, but she couldn't help but worry if she had actually offended him in some way- he had actually let his guard down, and to put it bluntly, she had kind of messed it up. Then she insulted him immediately afterwards (though it's not like he hadn't been asking for it), perhaps indirectly contradicting what she had said before. _Oh, you dummy. Why does he have to be such a jerk?_ That, of course, remained a rhetorical question- but still, she had to say _something_.

"Hey, you're not actually mad at me, are you?" The threads of her words, cautious and faintly above a whisper, poked at his ears as they swiveled towards the sound, though his head didn't follow with it. When he didn't answer after a few moments, he heard her sigh and resume movement. Even though that was just what he wanted, to bother her by ignoring her, he realized how dumb and manipulative that sounded, and began to feel a tinge of guilt creep up on him. _Way to backfire on yourself_\- did he even know what he was doing? He really didn't even think he was actually mad, so why didn't he answer her? _Probably because,_ he answered himself, _you knew what she was most likely going to say next.  
_  
He turned his head to look at her, curious as to what she had been looking for, though it didn't stop him from becoming utterly confused. What was she doing with a paintbrush, a piece of paper, a white bottle with a yellow label, and...was that a photo frame?

Kagome sighed and bent over to steal the red leaf from its spotlight, holding it carefully by the stem, as her hands were already full. She had lost count of how many times she'd called him a jerk, because he was, but she wasn't determined to continue pestering him, either. Laying out the paper, paintbrush, Mod Podge, and the 5 by 5 inch photo frame on her desk, she realized that she never had much time to do crafts anymore, and that was a shame, since it's one of her favorite hobbies. Just slightly dry, the irrefutable vermillion color of the star-pointed leaf was not much bigger than the palm of her hand, and its freshly severed stem diverged into countless spidery veins that cradled the florescent light and reverberated the reflection of its passionate, cinnamon iridescence. It was just your typical lucky-yet-not-all-too-rare find of a perfect Autumn leaf, yet, there was something more than its breathtaking beauty that made her want to save it. She unscrewed the cap sealing the Mod Podge and dipped her paintbrush into it, caressing each pointed arm of the leaf with light brushstrokes on both sides and the stem, noticing about halfway through the process that Inuyasha was watching close behind her, his curiosity yet again getting the better of him. She set down the leaf onto the paper to let it dry before she put on a second coat, and paused for a moment before speaking, a trace of indifference echoing in her voice.

"This needs a second coat…," she muttered to herself quietly before she decided to address the person behind her, "I thought I upset you or something, didn't I?" He kept quiet for a few seconds, processing the suddenness of her question.

"N-No, it's just..." He really didn't know what to say; he knew it was coming to bite him in the ass no matter what he said or did. Might as well let it come sooner than later.

When she had decided that he was taking too long to answer, she turned around on her heel to face him. Leaning some of her weight against the edge of her desk and crossing her arms, she looked at him again with those same diamond-cut eyes, though her voice didn't stray from its normal sound; passionate and pertinacious.

"It's just what? _Cat's got your tongue?_ How ironic." This only resulted in an exasperated eye roll from him, she was really enjoying taking jabs at him tonight.

"No, it's just that I have nothing worth telling the likes of you about, nor do I owe you an answer."

Kagome cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Because I was just getting to that- you were in the midst of a sentence before I had my scholas-tastic outburst, and I didn't notice until after I finished, which is the main reason why I apologized, if you must know. " It was really mostly because she felt bad for contradicting herself and pushing him onto the floor, but a little exaggerating never hurt- it _was_ technically true.

"No, I really don't need to know." Inuyasha felt himself become the slightest bit pale, because it was about to bite him in the ass any second now.

"Inuyasha, I'm being serious. If I remember correctly, it went along the lines of "_if we were supposed to_" something. and I can't just let it go if it's something that's obviously been nagging at you for a while. What were you trying to tell me?"

Aaaaannd it bit him in the ass. His face was drained of any traces of attitude at those words, I mean, _she even remembered the beginning of his question_. This officially couldn't get any worse, and in an attempt to save himself, he pushed past her and began to apply the second coat of Mod Podge onto the leaf as carefully as he could. Kagome hadn't expected this, and turned halfway in his direction so she could look over his shoulder, less than half a foot away from him.

"I don't think it's dry enough for a second coat yet."

"Feh."

"Inuyasha, you can't just dodge my question like that!"

"Sure I can. _You're_ the one who dodged _me_." At this point she'd already had enough of his snarkiness, and her next sentences were coated with a thick layer of frustration which surfaced most notably at each stressed syllable, a faint whine pricking at the edges.

"Stop arrantly ignoring my inquiry with your snarky remarks! I'm not a mind reader, but it's not very hard to tell when something's bothering you, you know. If anything, I'd rather be the least of your problems." Her voice nearly dissipated into a weak silence in those last words. He took a few seconds to process her last sentence, and without saying anything, he ceased painting and flashed a quick side glance at her from the corner of his eye. Instead of looking at him, she was staring into space at the air behind him, expressionless, as if she was waiting for his answer so one could manifest itself on her face. That was unusual, because she never lacked external emotion unless if she was possessed, sad, or tired, and technically, the last two were sort of stretching it.

"Hey," he turned halfway towards her and waited until she looked up to continue, "You're _not_ a problem. You're just annoying." The intentions of a smile showed itself at the just-barely upturned corners of her mouth.

"Thanks. And you're insufferable."

He gave her a cocky smile. "I've never felt more obliged to act as such in your presence."

Kagome promptly looked down, as if to hide her flushed face. Though it had barely tinted a layer of red, she felt like it should be many shades darker. Maybe it was the fact that she realized what a hypocrite she'd be the next time she poked fun at Sango for her weird relationship with Miroku if she saw the way they flirt. Did this even constitute as flirting?

Inuyasha kept the crooked smile on his face, regarding her quiet, tinted-red reaction meant he "won," which was only worth noting to himself because he wasn't about to let anyone win in the Snarky Jerk Department just yet, or more likely, never. Just as he was about to turn back around to resume painting, her voice yet again found its way through the cracks in the air, fractured and disconcerting.


	5. Adverse Effects of Dizziness Don't Exist

**_Note:_ **_In the end, the real fools are the ones that arrogate that the universe is conventional, that time makes sense, that there is an answer to everything, and most of all, the one's that claim that they'll never be dizzy._

"Why are you so reluctant to tell me that question...?" And just when he thought he had successfully averted the subject. He looked down at the floor briefly before turning back towards the desk to finish the back of the leaf, almost inaudibly mumbling the reply under his breath.

"S'already too late." It wasn't fair, that she was asking him this question now.

She hesitated before speaking again. "Okay."

Was that it? Really? _Okay_, then.

When Inuyasha finished, he handed Kagome the paintbrush, who went to the bathroom sink to clean her brush and then put away the Mod Podge after screwing the cap back on. She sat herself down on the floor this time, leaning her back against the side of her bed, only to look to her left and find Inuyasha sitting right next to her.

"Ah. When- I mean, what are you doing here?"

"If you haven't noticed, I often sit on the floor. You?"

"The floor felt welcoming."

"The floor usually feels like a cruel bastard."

At the risk of sounding sadistic, she burst into a fit of giggles at this, and it was a while before she caught her breath again.

"Sorry, I think I found that more funny than it actually was."

He snorted. "Happy to make you laugh, I guess. What are you doing with that leaf?"

"The Mod Podge was to preserve it and still leave it relatively flexible. Then I can put it in that small frame and keep it."

He looked at her with a confused expression. "What the hell do you want to keep a leaf for?"

She propped her elbow up on her right leg and leaned her chin into her hand, looking forward. "Not _what_, _why_."

Unfortunately, Inuyasha couldn't care less for contextual grammar. "Whatever."

"It's your lucky day, there are two reasons. It's a very pretty leaf," she leaned on her cheek to face him with another sheepish grin, "...and it reminds me of you."

Taken aback, he looked the opposite way so she wouldn't see his cheeks tint red. "Th-That's a stupid reason to keep something so insignificant."

"Oh, but _I_ don't think so, and that's the difference between you and me in this case." He didn't say anything for a minute and tried to ignore the urge to ask his next question, because _he didn't give a damn about what she thought of him_, but that was a genuine lie, so he did ask.

"...Why does it remind you of me?"

"Well, I dunno," yawning, she sat up straight again, grabbing her knees with both hands, "besides the Doppler Effect reason? It's hard to explain."

"N-no, I mean," there was an intermittence in his speech while he thought of the best words to use, "why do you want something that reminds you of me?"

Her mouth turned up into a bubbly grin. "Well, it's a shame I don't dislike you enough to not want something that does."

"...That's a terrible answer." He didn't look pleased, though Kagome's face didn't change.

"I guess that makes two, then," she glanced over at her desk, "I'll be right back." She pulled herself up and walked up to her desk, then gently placed the paper on the back part of the photo frame with the leaf on top. However, her mind still was buzzing with frustration at her inability to figure out what Inuyasha had been trying to ask her before. "Too late," he had said- too late for _what_? It was already midnight; you can't get much later than midnight, so had something been different before? The only thing that came to mind was that she pushed him onto the floor, than "sat" him, but it probably hadn't been a physical change he was referring to. All she had really done was catch him off guard and- _oh, shoot._ He had let his guard down, and the instant she had distracted him, it had immediately built itself back up. It was too late to ask him again, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to figure it out either.

"Inuyasha, what do you think?"

He halfway opened one eye. "About what?"

"About all of this? I was brought here partially by the will of the jewel, after all. Do you think this is all a big coincidence or a predetermined curse of the Shikon jewel?"

Both of his eyes snapped open upon hearing this question, and he looked at Kagome with a mildly incredulous expression even though she wouldn't be able to see it from behind her. Was she on to him or something? Nevertheless, she was asking him extremely sophisticated and complex philosophical questions at freaking 12:07 in the morning, not that he was tired, but it wasn't the time to be asking these things, that stopped being a thing to ask half an hour ago. Also, it's not like he'd been expecting her to ask him almost the same exact question he had been intending to. Still, he managed to piece together an answer anyway.

"First of all, we aren't going to be manipulated by the jewel. Future or present tense."

"Oh, this isn't about me. It's what _you_ think is what I'm asking."

He raised an eyebrow, though she still couldn't see it, and continued, "Well, as I said, I don't like the concept that I nor anyone else is being played puppet by a small spherical necklace with magic powers. Also, while our current situation of knowing each other feels more than coincidental, I wouldn't… call it a curse, either."

She turned around for a moment to face him with a smug smile. "Aw, that's because you like us, don't you?"

He tried his best to add a blatant stab of anger in his next retort. "It's not like any of you you gave me a choice. You guys are so slow and weak to travel with. And extremely irritating. All I'm saying is it's not exhausting enough to be curse-worthy." This only made her grin in amusement; it wasn't hard for her to see right through that statement.

"Liar, liar, fire-rat pants on fire!" While Inuyasha wasn't acquainted well with the idiom, he understood that she was taunting him, and didn't miss the chance to glower at her as if he were really angry, which she just giggled at. At least she seemed to be in a good mood, unless it was just the sleep fatigue getting to her.

He cleared his throat and continued, "It's more of what happened to us that feels like a curse, and in Miroku's case, literally." At this moment he heard Kagome snap the back of the frame closed, concealing the leaf inside, and when she made eye contact with him, her expression seemed marginally melancholy, which offset him.

"I know that. Something terrible has happened to everyone but me, and it's not that I want the same for myself, but I was born here. I'm sort of dead weight."

Her face didn't change, and she wasn't crying, but something about the raw brokenness that laced the edges of her words made his heart feel like it was about to split in half.

"What a stupid thing to say," he suddenly scoffed.

"Huh?"

"Just because you haven't ever inherited or had something more than remotely tragic happen to you, doesn't make your reason for traveling with us shallow. And not just because you brought back the Shikon jewel or you're the reincarnation of a powerful priestess who did." He paused his speech to contemplate how to phrase what he would say next; it wasn't easy for him to put his thoughts into words like this. However, he paused too long and Kagome accidentally interjected just before he continued.

"What else is there? Every time I jump through that well I displace myself in time to somewhere I don't belo-"

"Would you be quiet and let me finish?" He shot a quick glare at her to make sure she was listening, and when he saw that she was looking at him in silence, a timid sort of shock chalked in her eyes, he cleared his throat before proceeding.

"Actually, it is partially because you're a reincarnation that gives you a "good reason," but before I tell you that here's something: for someone who up until a while ago had lived a sheltered life, you are significantly strong. If it weren't for you, we'd have been dead by now, and though I don't like admitting this, I would be too, so don't give me that crap." When he saw her head nod faintly, he turned his head away from her and looked forward.

"You're right, other than being reincarnated with the jewel inside you to bring it back, you generally seem out of place over there. But the reason is more intricate than that- you remember back when… we first met Sango and she told us the history of the jewel? Do you remember why it brought you back here?"

She nodded. "Yes, because it wants to repeat the cycle again, right?"

"Right. And what's going to happen to you if it succeeds in doing that?

She really didn't like to think about the outcome or possibility of them failing specifically for this reason. "I will… become part of the Shikon jewel like Midoriko, and battle demons for eternity."

"And that is exactly your reason. Something tragic _will_ happen to you if we don't do anything. If we fail, you will suffer a fate worse than death," his voice became hushed, a drowning sort of restlessness reflecting in his voice like a scarlet mirror, "and I can't- I _won't_ let that happen to you."

Upon hearing him she was unconsciously captivated by a breathless kind of stillness, eyes wide with an imminent realization as she began to understand what he had been trying to tell her, both now and before. Without hesitating, she quickly pivoted on her heel to face her desk again, not even bothering to sit on her chair as she tore a post-it-note from its overdue tyranny of being on the top and grabbed her favorite fountain pen, letting the words spill over incessantly.

"Besides, if you were really such a pathetic weakling, I would have gotten rid of you ages ago...hm?" When he noticed the lack of an all-too-irritated retort from her, Inuyasha glanced up at her again only to be more puzzled: she was bent over her desk and apparently too busy writing to have a substantive reaction to just about everything he just said. _Does she really not care about anything I have to say?_ Before he could get any deeper into his sulking, his ear twitched at a sound that deeply disturbed him- a sniffle.

_Did I...Did I really make her cry? What did I say this time!? _Attempting to swallow down his frantic confusion, he pulled himself up and walked up behind her to see what she was writing that was ostensibly so important. Just as he leaned to peer over shoulder, Kagome had finished writing, whipped around, and walked into him, planting face-first into his chest. Having bumped into him rather hard, his balance was thrown off a little, and he grabbed her with both hands just below her shoulders, pushing her back so she was standing up straight again, though that distance was still rather close. To be honest with herself, the first thing Kagome thought was _ow, my nose_, until she felt herself being pushed back. Her arms were over her chest, hugging the leaf she had framed, then looked up at him. She knew she had bumped into him, she just hadn't actually perceived it until just now. Her cheeks tinted red and she remained earsplittingly quiet as she duly noted that his hands were still on her arms and looked up at him only to see him raise an eyebrow at her due to her lack of response, which didn't make her any less flustered.

"Um...I-"

"Why were you crying?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Huh? No I wasn't!" When his interrogating stare didn't recede, she sighed and, quite reluctantly, continued speaking.

"Alright, maybe I was, a little bit. But only because what you said made me very happy. Since we started traveling, I've been trying my hardest not to become a burden for any of you, since I knew you all already had your own. Then you made me realize something, something I told you once that I, in my own way, had forgotten to follow myself."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"You reminded me that I wasn't alone anymore. I forgot that I have my own burden to carry, and that even though I often forget about myself, there's going to be someone there that remembers me. So...thank you." She briefly smiled at him, then promptly looked down, embarrassed. It was then she saw that she was still holding the frame.

Inuyasha, needless to say, was stunned and speechless. But before he could manage to even mutter something, a picture frame was shoved in his face, obscuring the view of everything but the red leaf encased behind the thin glass slate, the light blue sticky note attached to it. He let go of Kagome's arms and grabbed the frame to read it.

_I couldn't answer your question before, but I will answer it now. Yes, I do believe that we met for a reason- it was no coincidence I was pulled down that well to find you; a fate that was not avoidable. But that doesn't mean we are bound to fate. There are certain givens we are dealt with in life, and the choices or outcomes of those givens are what allows us to have free will. In this way, we can also choose our own fate sometimes, and when we are given that opportunity, we can't waste it- and that is exactly what we are doing. We are fighting for our own fate by using the givens we were dealt. We're all young, and it's confusing, weird, and definitely not easy, but I know we'll all figure it out in the end. But I do know one thing for sure, Inuyasha: you are the one unavoidable fate I would never change, and among all the givens I have been dealt, between the ones I do like and the ones I don't, you are one of my favorites. -Kagome_

"Kagome…" It was beyond him how she figured out his question exactly, but he did know...that he had absolutely no idea where she was. It seemed she had turned off the lamp again so that the room was yet again rather dim, so it took a few glances around the room to find her standing near the window, probably too embarrassed to just stand there while he read it. When she made eye contact with him, she gave a genuine, Kagome-certified happy smile, and, though he'd never admit it, it made him extremely relieved and happy that he had caused it. Kagome looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet .

"You know what? I just remembered the leaves of the Goshinboku turn red in the Autumn."

"Oh, they do?" He had forgotten about that, and frankly, he was yet again at loss for words to say anything else, using the silence as an excuse to gently stand up the frame back on her desk, and walk towards her a bit so he was only about six feet away from her, right where the leaf itself had landed.

She tried to be a bit more direct this time. "Um, sorry if what I wrote sounded a bit silly, I wasn't sure how to explain it."

He turned his head away from her. "Huh. It wasn't bad writing for someone who's flighty and reckless like you." _She wrote something from practically the bottom of her heart and you liked it significantly so say something of substance you fool._ And yet his lack of response remained.

Kagome cocked her head to the side, thoroughly frustrated with his aforementioned lack of an actual response to what she wrote to him. She sighed heavily and gave him the most irritated glare she could manage.

"My god, you really _are_ insufferable." She marched straight up in front of him, grabbed both of his front locks of hair and tugged on them hard enough to make him face her and pull his head forward. Before Inuyasha could ask her _what the hell are you doing_, she grasped his face on either side with both hands, slightly raised herself off the floor by shifting some of her weight on her toes, and kissed him, a fervent fluttering of butterflies in pandemonium overwhelming her.

A breathless storm of shock flooded him, and for an instant he was completely stiff. Saying he was stunned before would have been a joke compared to right now. However, he caught on rather quickly and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her to almost his height, then closed his eyes and kissed her back. This time he noticed how potently her scent overwhelmed him, how he could feel her nervousness through her cold fingers and she could probably tell he was also by his partially unsteady, slightly-too-tight grip, how stupidly fast he could feel his heart pounding as he did hers, and how uncertain and just barely off-sync their movements mirrored. Despite their marginal, inexperienced awkwardness, neither of them seemed to mind or notice at the moment, as they were thoroughly captivated by each other.

When she pulled away from him, she saw that unreadable expression on his face again; a sort of distant, hazy look, and upon seeing it again, she noticed that it wasn't as much of a look of confusion as it was...something else. Kagome found herself almost hoping that it really wasn't what she thought it was, because if that is the way his face looks when he's lovestruck, her heart ran the risk of bursting, or less dramatically, just stopping. Instead of her hand, she could now feel his breath on her face, and she wasn't sure if it was his closeness that was making her face feel warm or if it was the realization that she most likely has a similar expression on her face.

Even though she looked just as dizzy as he did, she still had a retort ready to fire just seconds after.

"And that's what you get," she breathed and took her right hand off his left cheek to poke him in the chest, "for almost an hour ago! The next time," she breathed again," you do that, I'll-"

"What? You'll "sit" me?"

Kagome closed her mouth, taken aback. Is he saying it would be worth it…? At that realization she blushed and opened her mouth to yell something else at him, only for him to interrupt her again.

"Let me guess: you'll be out of breath?" Kagome just flat out turned red at this.

"I-It's not like you aren't either!"

Inuyasha leaned his forehead against hers, their noses almost touching, and she was now sure that it was both things that were making her face feel warm. "No, you're just exhausting. Also, you shouldn't hold your breath so much."

"Wh-...you were the one holding me too tight," She tried resisting the urge to breathe again, but she failed and nearly gasped, resulting in a snicker from him, which she glared at him for before continuing.

"Your grip was too stiff. I couldn't 've breathed even if I remembered to."

"Whatever. You're the one that's _short _of breath; I'm just young and confused."

Normally, she would have just yelled something witty at him again for taunting both her height, which stopped at his shoulders and in retrospect really wasn't _that_ short, and her current breathlessness at the same time. But at the reference of the note she wrote him, Kagome became very flustered and pulled her face away from his, covering it with both hands_. It's like he never runs out of things to say_. "Just stop it. Stop talking."

After a moment passed, he ignored her last comment and spoke again.

"Hey."

"Hm?" When she uncovered her face, he was on eye level with her again, and what she thought on his face would be a smug, arrogant crooked smile was actually a more serious, thoughtful gaze, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Did you mean it?" Her eyebrows also furrowed, again.

"The note? Yes." He blinked, and his voice became a bit more tentative in his next sentence.

"And the ending?" Kagome stretched out her right hand to brush his cheek with her thumb, seemed to contemplate for a brief moment and then mildly cleared her throat, smiling up at him with fake arrogance.

"_Feh_, I wouldn't write anything to you that I didn't mean, you fool."

She watched his pensive expression turn into a genuine, Inuyasha-certified crooked smile with-a-fang-poking-out, slightly tightening his arms around her. Seeing him smile like this made her extremely happy, and if anything, Kagome now knew why they always got so shy around each other; if their relationship was going to be this vertiginous she wasn't sure how long either of them would last. However, what he said next made her forget about even caring about it.

"Then me, too."

**_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._**

**The author's note was giving me the "at the bottom of the last chapter" vibe.**

**I only have a few points to make:**

**1\. All the quotes at the top of each chapter in this story are made up by myself. No, no one asked that yet, but just in case.**

**2\. Towards the end especially (and I suppose you could say throughout the whole story) I wanted to emphasize the awkwardness and uncertainty between the two, because they are teenagers. A lot of media, books, T.V., etc. save some exceptions tend to misrepresent adolescent romance as flawless and experienced, but that's not realistic. Teenagers are inexperienced and awkward when it comes to anything intimate because they are young and inexperienced, no matter how mature they are for their age, and people tend to forget that. Or from my own perspective being currently a teenager, at least the media tends to. Sorry for the length of that, it was the 2nd most important motif/theme besides the time/fate/free will one, and I'm pretty sure Kagome explained that one well enough.  
TL;DR for #2: Teenagers don't know how to romance and look cool about it**

**3\. Thank you again so much for any favorites and reviews!**  
**For the guest reviews: I was pleasantly surprised by your kindness. :)**  
**User reviews: I will make an effort to reply to all your wonderful words of encouragement soon. :'D**

**Again, thank you so much for reading the whole thing, and I already have a few new story ideas, so hopefully I'll get some more time to write soon!**


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